Many patio or other entryways utilize a two-door configuration that meets in the middle of the doorway. When a two-door configuration is used, whether as two swinging or two sliding doors, one door is referred to as the active door and the other is referred to as the inactive door. The active door is the door that is normally utilized when going through the doorway. In other words, the door that opens when an operating handle is turned. The inactive door is the door that generally remains closed or locked except for circumstances where a wider entryway is needed. Generally, the doors are mounted on a frame by a set of hinges for swinging door applications or on a track for sliding door applications.
The primary locking mechanism used to lock the inactive door is usually a shoot bolt. The shoot bolt is a bolt, elongated rod, or other mechanism that extends from the inactive door in an up and down direction into the frame and/or floor surrounding the door. The shoot bolt may be attached to the interior face of the door or to a side edge of the door. The inactive door also includes a strike plate positioned to receive a latch bolt from the active door to maintain both doors in a closed condition. A handle, thumbscrew, lever, and/or key assembly attached to the latch bolt manually controls the latch bolt and enables the door to be opened or closed. A retractable dead bolt operated by a thumbturn or the like is frequently associated with the latch bolt to provide extra locking security to the doors. The use of dual dead bolt locks has increasingly become the standard in that two locks provide even greater security than one.
The shoot bolt is a sturdy and reliable locking mechanism to secure two door configurations. The shoot bolt, however, requires an additional step to lock that can be ignored by the user. In many cases the shoot bolt may not be engaged because of a hurried user or by simple neglect.